Burial caskets traditionally comprise a shell to which is pivoted a cap or lid. During viewing of the deceased in the casket, the cap is of course pivoted to its open position to permit relatives, loved ones, acquaintances and the like to view the deceased. During this time the underside of the casket cap is visible. It is thus desirable to trim the underside of the cap with decorative trim. This has been traditionally accomplished with the installation of a dish assembly into the underside of the cap.
The traditional dish assembly has taken the form of a rectangular cap panel having two long sides and two short sides, with a puffing member being attached to each of the four sides. The cap panel is positioned in the casket cap atop a standoff, itself positioned in the cap, or atop a ridge or groove forming a part of the cap. The free edges of the puffing members are retained in a peripheral groove in the casket cap near the peripheral edge of the cap. The puffing members are so sized as to require them to assume a convex shape for their free edges to be retained in the peripheral groove. A rectangular cap panel insert, including decorative embroidery or the like, is installed between the four puffing members and in juxtaposition relative to the cap panel. Various means may be provided to secure the cap panel insert into the dish assembly.
Conventionally the puffing members have been attached to the cap panel with staples. Often the puffing members are as well stapled to each other at the corners. The process of stapling the four separate puffing members to the cap panel and to each other is tedious and time consuming. Further, should the casket be one destined for cremation, the use of staples is not desirable in the construction of the casket as great pains are taken to minimize, or totally eliminate, metal as a cremation casket construction material in view of the noncombustibility of metal.
As mentioned above, traditional puffings are all, for the most part, convex in shape. It would be desirable to offer to casket customers differently shaped puffings other than simply convex puffings, for example puffings including a series of stepped planar sections, to produce a "picture frame" look or the like.
It is therefore a main objective of the present invention to eliminate the four separate puffing members in the construction of the dish assembly.
It is another objective of the present invention to eliminate the need for staples to secure the puffing members to the cap panel and to each other in the construction of the dish assembly.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide differently shaped puffings other than just convex puffings, for example picture frame type puffings or the like.